The present invention relates to a compactor for a waste material container, and more particularly, to an industrial-type compactor including an associated supporting frame and waste material container which facilitates the efficient compaction of trash materials within a waste material container, i.e., dumpster or the like.
In Western societies, trash has reached enormous proportions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that Americans produced 160 million tons of solid trash in 1987. This is nearly 1300 pounds per person. Overall, municipal garbage has increased 80% since 1960 and is expected to increase 20% by 2000. Eighty percent of all trash is sent to landfills, 10% is incinerated and 10% is recycled, according to the EPA. Unfortunately, almost 1/3 of the nations landfills are expected to reach their limits within 5 years. Thus, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking various strategies to reduce waste nationally over the next few years through reduction and recycling.
One way in which to achieve a reduction in waste is to compact waste material into a more compact shape. For this purpose, trash compactors have been developed for both home and industrial uses. In the home, a trash compactor generally comprises a vertically operated ram which moves within a trash compactor to compact the waste materials.
In the industrial environment, trash compactors have also been developed to include a vertically moving ram that compacts trash within a waste material container or dumpster, allowing trash to be contained in a smaller cubic foot of space. Examples of vertically operating rams in trash compactors are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,088,071 and 4,603,626. In addition to vertically moving rams, industrial-type waste compactors have also been developed which include a pivotally mounted ram that extends within a waste material container or dumpster to compact waste materials therein. Examples of pivotally mounted waste compacting rams are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,165 and 4,424,740.
While the aforementioned industrial-type trash compactors have simplified compacted waste dumping, have saved driver time and have substantially reduced maintenance cost, the efficiency of operation, the compactability of waste, and the cost of purchasing and operating such industrial-type trash compactors and associated waste material containers could be improved.